It's Only Us
by itslivinginallofus
Summary: I'm going to be annoying and only say that there are two femslash pairings in this story, and you have to read to find out who! Haha. If you read it, I hope you'll see why I have my reasons. M for strong sexual content in future chapters. Please R&R!
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER: Sadly, I do not own Degrassi. If I did, it would not have taken the horrible turn that it did circa season 7 with the random insertion of unnecessary new characters. ::sigh:: I digress! **

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Speaking of when the series saw better days, this fic takes place in Season 4 after the events in "Time Stands Still" and "Back in Black" but not really any further than that. I think I've been trying to make this happen since '07, but it's just gotten lost in the madness, so hopefully it was worth reviving! **

Ashley Kerwin hated essays. Poetry was an art form. Music, a cinch, but trying to put words into restrictive academic form seemed to be nothing short of torture. She figured that Independent Study was a better time than never to try and tackle her comparative essay for English class, but she certainly wasn't complaining when a pleasant interruption popped up on the computer screen.

e_nash: guess what ur fave journalist found out?

Ashley smiled at Ellie, who was sitting at the computer directly across from her, and replied via instant message:

a_kerwin: Haha. What's that?

e_nash: locker rooms are the last places the janitors lock up at nite.

a_kerwin: *raises eyebrow* Oh really? What source is this?

e_nash: ok don't gag but i found out via manny during the spirit squad int. i did yesterday after school. long story.

a_kerwin: Hah. No gagging. I'm over Craig, over her, and ALL over this new locker room tip ;)

Ellie, whose smile couldn't be slapped off her face at this point, was starting to type a response when she slightly jumped at Ashley's foot rubbing up against her own under the computer table. She raised her eyebrows at Ash and resumed clicking away.

e_nash: ok way to draw attention to us not being studious,best friend-and-nothing-more!

e_nash: lol :-p

a_kerwin: Haha. Sorry. I'll behave.

e_nash: now i didn't say u had to behave.

e_nash: ;)

Ashley leaned back in her computer chair so that all Ellie could see was her scheming eyes from over the monitor, and as Ash arched her back in a mock-stretch, she inched her leg even further up Ellie's, nearing her inner thigh. When Ellie practically audibly gasped, Ashley couldn't restrain herself from laughing out loud, interrupting the otherwise quiet study hall.

Mr. Simpson peered from around his laptop at his desk. "Wanna share the punch line with the rest of the class, Ashley?"

Ashley quickly minimized she and Ellie's conversation. "Uh, no. Sorry, just reading a funny play for English," she lied so obviously and unapologetically.

"Ahh, I see, well, just type back to Ellie and tell her to practice her stand up outside of study hall so that everyone else can get some learning in, okay?" he said with a half-smile as he got back to what he was doing.

e_nash: nice going loser. lol.

a_kerwin: Me? You're the one that had me laughing with your "stand up." Hahaha. :-p

e_nash: what can i say i'm a regular comedian...

e_nash: sooo. after school. u in?

a_kerwin: Well, what about spirit squad? Don't they use the locker room?

e_nash: no practice on fridays. i checked.

a_:kerwin Ooh, sweet! In that case, we'll meet at my locker after last period?

e_nash: sounds good :)

The bell sounded overhead, releasing the classroom of teenagers like a stampede. The post-lunch jitters had everyone anticipating the end of the day with each passing class, but perhaps no one more than Ashley and Ellie. As they stood side by side in the line for the door, their hands brushed and set fire to their synapses. They exchanged glances in a silent agreement that last period would not end soon enough.

...InsertBandofStarsThatIndicatesTimePassageHere...

The school buses had come and gone, packed full with restless students and leaving behind a carbon footprint that would be filled all over again the next day. In contrast, the hallways were quiet, occupied only by an occasional passing student or faculty member coming or going from an extra-curricular activity.

"You've got to be kidding me! It's never locked this early!" Manny exclaimed, kicking the locker room door and rattling the handle in frustration.

"Why don't we just go to my room?" Emma asked, playing with the belt loops on Manny's jeans from behind her.

"Because ever since the shooting, your mom and Mr. Simpson have been checking on you, like, every three seconds and last time I barely climbed off of you in time," Manny said, still yanking at the door to no avail.

Emma laughed, and Manny, who missed the frequency of the soft sound since the fateful day that Rick brought a gun to school, stopped fussing with the door to face her.

"Yeah, I remember, I've never seen you dart across a room so fast in my life," Emma finished with another laugh.

After pausing to enjoy the moment, Manny held Emma tightly, but playfully by the hands and said, "Hey, don't make fun of me, otherwise I'll never kiss you again."

Emma, not quite believing her, asked, "Oh really?" as she leaned in, centimeters from Manny's face, and teased her with an 'almost kiss', leaning in and pulling back, leaning in and pulling back, until Manny pulled Emma towards her and stole the kiss. Manny then remembered that anyone staying after hours could easily walk by, but after a fevered kiss and an inhale of Emma's scent, she knew they would find a place.

"Boiler room? I bet it's open," she said with a smile.

Emma smiled back and had to refrain from putting a hand on Manny's ass as they walked down the hallway.

From inside the locker room, Ashley, wearing only a bra, dared to peer around the corner of the locker she was hiding behind. "Who was that?" she whispered, "Are they gone?"

**I can't believe I'm actually posting the first chapter of this after all this time! I know my Degrassi couples don't get read too often, so reviews would be doubly appreciated :) **


	2. Chapter 2

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Everything in italics is in the form of flashback, to avoid any clarity issues. Also, in case you missed the story description, this chapter contains strong sexual female/female content -- consider yourself warned.**

**DISCLAIMER: Sadly, I do not own Degrassi. If I did, it'd go a little something like this...**

When Manny pushed the door to the boiler room open, she was surprised to feel Emma rush in behind her, shut the door, and pin her up against the wall in record time. Manny, who was usually the more aggressive of the two, didn't expect, yet certainly didn't mind, how Emma was becoming slightly more dominating over time. Manny reluctantly stopped Emma's hands that were groping their way up her body and broke the kiss, taking a deep breath.

"Mmm, wait. I'm going to do a quick check, make sure that the janitor or anyone else isn't nearby or anything. Paranoid, I know, but who knows what'll happen if word gets out that the school slut is corrupting Degrassi's golden girl?" she leaned in and took another kiss before turning the handle to the door. "Two minutes, 'kay?"

Emma softly grinned and nodded. "Hurry back."

If you had asked Emma a few months ago what she'd be doing right now, the last thing she would probably say is sitting in the Degrassi boiler room after school anxiously awaiting to hook up with her best friend. But Emma knew all too well at this point that anything -- everything -- can change so radically in merely an instant. After the shooting, she wasn't sure what to think anymore, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't seem to snap back into her normal self.

Under normal circumstances, she would have never listened to, let alone given Jay the time of day when he assured her that Manny was hooking up in the ravine - with other girls. She and Manny hadn't been on the best terms lately, especially since Emma wasn't putting up much of an effort to make anything work with anyone since she had a gun pointed in her face. But as much of a snake as Jay was, his story seemed too random and specific to be a lie, and that evening Emma went to the ravine and found Manny, just where Jay said she would be. That night would probably be burned into Emma's memory forever...

_She walked up to Manny, who was sitting on a bench next to some girl Emma didn't recognize, holding her hand and whispering God only knows what in her ear. The girl didn't go to Degrassi, and as Emma looked around, most of the kids there didn't. The ones that did were too busy to even notice that Emma was there, but she still proceeded with caution. When Manny saw her, her face went pale, her eyes wide, and she distanced herself from her little "friend" so abruptly that the girl got pissed and walked off. Manny had been caught, and she had to find a way out of it._

_"Em - I, uh... I can explain," she stammered._

_Emma felt like she was in an almost trance-like state when she heard herself say, "Show me where you take them."_

_Still thinking she was caught, Manny started to tear up a little, knowing that after this, any chance of she and Emma rebuilding a friendship or even her restoring her reputation was gone. "Emma, please..."_

_But Emma remained calm and reasserted herself. "Take me there."_

_And it was crystal clear by Manny's change in expression and by Emma's continued composure that they both knew what was about to happen. Manny stood from the bench, looked around for anyone that might recognize them, and led Emma by the hand to a van that was shady, but sufficient. And as they say, the rest is history._

Just as Emma's mind was reliving the details of their first time, Manny re-entered. She pressed her body up against Emma, who was leaning against the wall, and placed Emma's hands back where they had been on her body before she left to patrol. "Where were we?"

"2 minutes, eh?" Emma laughed, "That was more like 5... maybe 7."

Manny giggled and wrapped her arms around Emma's shoulders. "I'm sorry, but conveniently Ms. H had to stop and chat with me. She still won't stop bugging me to join the gymnastics team again, but after last year, no way." Manny leaned in to kiss Emma, but Emma still teasingly withheld.

Manny playfully sighed. "Aww, come on. Forgive me for being late?"

Emma ran her hands through Manny's hair and cleared some strands away from her face. "I suppose I can let it slide this once. But only this once, otherwise I may be the one who never kisses you again."

Manny laughed and pulled herself closer to Emma, resting her head on her shoulder. "Oh, Emma. I can always count on you to be punctual and sarcastic," she laughed, and then lifted her head to look into Emma's eyes. "Nice to know some things never change."

Emma wasn't the only one that knew how drastically and quickly things are able to change, but Manny, too. In fact, Manny had probably gotten a taste of how bitter change can be before most of the Degrassi kids. One day she was the sweet, loveable, sidekick of Emma who everyone liked and wouldn't mind trading places with; the next, she was the school slut who was the butt of everyone's jokes and who most people spat at as she passed in the halls. Even her relationship with Emma was capable of being on the rocks, which terrified her more than anything else, and in turn, it was up there with Emma's most frightening moments, even with all things considered.

Emma softened for a moment, looking at the face and into the eyes of the same girl she played in the sandbox with since kindergarten. She swallowed hard. "Yeah. Some things never change."

Manny reached up and pulled Emma toward her enough for their mouths to meet, and before they knew it, a moment of subtle emotion had transformed into unrestrained passion. Hands, lips, and hair seemed to be everywhere, the girls only breaking for air when absolutely necessary. Manny lifted Emma's hands from where they were resting on her ass and pinned her wrists to the wall behind her, thriving off of the gasp and muffled moan that were swallowed by their kisses.

Now it was Manny's turn to tease Emma by leaning in for kisses and then gradually moving out of her reach and watching Emma writhe and squirm to reach her lips. Manny finally freed Emma's wrists, however, to start undoing the fly of Emma's jeans, until suddenly both of them were in nothing but their underwear. Manny pressed herself into Emma and held the back of her head as she slid down the wall and onto the floor, Manny straddling her on top.

Emma pulled Manny closer to her so she could kiss down her neck, shoulders, down to her breasts, brushing her thumbs over her nipples and reveling in Manny's heavy, labored breaths. But before Emma could make another move, Manny startled her into an audible moan by applying the perfect amount of pressure between Emma's legs with her hand, rocking into her back and forth. Emma considered quieting down in case someone were to walk by, but she literally couldn't contain herself, her volume seeming to increase with every stroke of Manny's skilled hand. Over the past few weeks, Manny had become practically a connoisseur of exactly what made Emma tick - or more accurately, scream - and all of her little noises and moans only drove Manny harder. They both knew what was happening when Emma's body arched, tightened, and her nails dug into Manny's back as she breathlessly called out Manny's name.

....InsertBandofStarsThatIndicatesTimePassageHere....

_Even though all things considered, Ashley had seen Ellie cry more than anyone else had, she had never seen her this bad. Thick strands of her hair were sticking to the make-up smudged tears that were starting to make her usually pallid cheeks red and sore, and her sobs were nearing the point of hyperventilation. Ellie was normally so guarded and subject to vulnerability that Ashley was at a loss for how to react other than to try and calm her down and be there for her._

_Ellie hadn't said much other than "I can't believe it" since arriving, so Ashley tried to get some more out of her. _

_"El... Sweetheart. I know how hard this is, believe me I do. But Sean's the one that let you go, and he's going to be the one to regret it," she said, and as cliché as it probably sounded, she couldn't have been more sincere._

_Ellie finally spoke, her speech broken by sobs. "No, that's just the thing. It's honestly not even really about Sean. It's about what he did, what happened. He up and left me, just like everyone else. If all these people were losing much by letting me go, then it wouldn't keep happening!"_

_Ashley surprised herself and Ellie with the strong impulse to grab Ellie's chin and tilt it upwards so that Ellie was making eye contact with her. _

_"Hey. Don't talk like that, okay? Everyone else might be stupid enough to let someone like you slip away, but not me. I promise. You are beautiful and wonderful and the reason I'm still going, so don't ever blame yourself for other people, because you can find stupid people anywhere, but not everyone can find someone like you. Okay?"_

_Again, both of them were slightly surprised by Ashley's impromptu, yet earnest and powerful speech, and all Ellie had to do was nod, choked up by a different kind of tears for Ashley to know she understood what she said. She fell into Ashley's arms, the crying becoming steady again, and Ashley lifted Ellie's chin once more and started to clear Ellie's hair off her face and dry the tears that had settled. With the makeup gone, the hair out of her face, and her eyes wide, Ashley realized more than ever how beautiful the girl sitting in her arms was._

_Ashley cleared the still-falling tears from Ellie's cheeks with her thumbs and whispered, "There you are." _

_Ellie's brown eyes were now wildly scanning Ashley's striking blue eyes, as Ashley leaned in to give Ellie what started as an innocent kiss on the forehead, and then the next thing she knew, she was pulling Ellie towards her in a kiss. The kiss only lasted a few moments before Ashley realized what was happening, and she pulled away, scared and surprised. She opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out, so Ellie beat her to it._

_ "Whoa," she said quietly. "What was... um... what was that?"_

_Ashley felt dizzy, frantic, not even sure herself what she had just done or where it came from. Before she knew it, one foot was in front of the other and she was out the door, dreading the fact that now she had all weekend to think of the mistake she just made._

_On Sunday, after almost a full 48 hours of forced contemplation, Ashley was nervous and surprised to see Ellie on her front doorstep. They barely had the time for Ellie to stumble through an awkward greeting with Ashley's mom before they were upstairs, Ellie grasping Ashley's face and returning the kiss two days later. The two never really discussed why or how things happened between them, but instead proceeded full steam ahead as felt appropriate. _

At the moment, Ellie was proceeding by wearing a steady path up Ashley's inner thigh, the formation of each goose bump predicting the escape of sound that left Ashley's lips.

"Ellie, please..." Ashley softly pleaded.

A playful grin took over the redhead's mouth as she slowly traced her tongue back down the path she had just kissed before making another slow ascent of kisses. Ashley couldn't help but whimper in frustration, holding tight to Ellie's shoulders. Just when she thought she would never find release, she was startled into an unbridled outcry when wetness met wetness as Ellie's tongue made a similar slow ascent from her entrance to her clit. The anticipation had been killing them both, and it seemed that for Ashley, climax may have been closer than either of them thought.

Ellie found a perfect rhythm, trying not to let her heavy breathing impair her pace. The way Ashley's feet were bearing down on the locker room bench, combined with the increased volume of her murmurs, both girls could tell she was getting close.

Right as the final swell was about to break and consume them both, another loud banging on the locker room door from the outside once again startled them apart.

Ellie sighed deeply. "You've got to be fucking kidding me."

**Okay, so let me say that the reviews I've received so far have been amazing and very much appreciated -- I really wasn't expecting this story to get anything! In fact, a review I received today really gave me the motivation to put off my errands today and focus on getting this second chapter out, so I hope you all know how much it means to me to hear your feedback! More to come and hopefully soon! Reviews, of course, are quite welcome :)**


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